Heat & AC not working, problem??

[mike805]

First timer here, just bought a 97 mountaineer on Friday (First FORD/Mercury Ever), it blows air like normal except that it's just cool, it doesn't blow cold air with AC on and it also doesn't Heat at all. I was told its the Blender Doors and it would cost aroun 1400 to fix, does this sound right I should I look around for better price or could it be a different solution all together. Thanks, I'm being really patient, I really like the mountaineer, but so far, AC/Heater doesn't work, Brake pedal started pulsating and making a noise after brakes were serviced on Monday at th Ford dealership and today the radiator leaked out all the coolant :-( Thanks ! and this is a great site, i'm sue i'll be a regular around here.

 

[rollinstone]

Yep...$1400 is about right. If you do it yourself it'll cost about $20 in parts from Rockauto.com and a couple of hours of your time. Very easy fix. Go to the info below and check out the threads re "blend door" (scroll down a ways). Do the one that recommends cutting in from the bottom of the plenum chamber. Sounds intimidating, but I did it couple of years ago and couldn't be happier with the result...especially saving $1400!

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1439158&postcount=17

 

[rollinstone]

Heck...I just noticed there's a "sticky" on this above.

 

[TheJackal]

One way to tell if it's the blend door or not is to see if you get cold air in Max A/C but not in regular A/C mode. The heater core is bypassed in Max A/C mode.

Of course you're not going to get heat now anyway without coolant.

Did they tell you if it was the blend door itself, or the actuator? We see a lot of both.
I think you have electronic A/C controls so you can perform a Self Test.

To enter the self-test, press the OFF and FLOOR buttons simultaneously and then press the AUTOMATIC button within two seconds. The display will show a pulse tracer going around the center of the display window. The test may run as long as 30 seconds. Record all DTCs displayed.

If you get a code other than 888, let us know.

 

[T_Rell]

I'm having a similar problem with my 03 Explorer, my a/c and max a/c work fine but when i turn it from a/c (in blue) to heat (in red) it continues to blow cold air but also gives a continuous clicking like its trying to switch over but can't. Does this mean its the actuator?